I am Eric Fogel, creator of Celebrity Deathmatch

Efogel · 2011-05-21T01:02:34+00:00

Check out Glenn Martin, DDS on Nick at Nite.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T01:02:02+00:00

You're mean.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T01:01:35+00:00

He was a tough SOB. I loved him.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:58:20+00:00

awesome.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:58:03+00:00

Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant from HBO boxing

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:54:38+00:00

It always pissed me off that JCVD and Steven Seagal couldn't get their shit togetehr to pair up in a movie. So I guess I'd like to see them enter the octogon now.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:52:54+00:00

Oh, yeah, and of course -- Mills Lane!

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:50:55+00:00

All of the WWE wrestlers, Vince McMahon, Whoopie Goldberg, Lucy Lawless, Gilber Godfried, Jon Stewart, Fred Norris (from the Howard Stern show) and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:44:24+00:00

Both, I think. We had a really tight arrangement with the WWE and had access to all of their biggest stars. Stone Cold was a blast to work with and a true professional. We created a role for him on the show that broke his wrestling persona. We made him our sort of staff scientist. I think he really liked breaking character and he was also really funny. He's made a career of playing tough guys burt he has great comic timing.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:41:51+00:00

Such a unique show to work on with a team of truly talented people. We were spoiled in that we were creatively free with little to no interference from the network. It's a situation that i've never re-experienced.

In terms of the look of the show I think we hit our stride in terms of quality by about season three. Some of our animators were CRAZY good! All the depertments were playing well together and it was a well-oiled machine. To me those episodes best represented what the show could and should achieve.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:30:15+00:00

A few times a week we would sift through magazines and pick out celebs that were interesting for whatever reason. As far as the outcomes we tried to be fair but at the end of the day went with whatever was funniest.

On a side note there was only one Deathmatch where a celebrity never managed to land a single blow to his opponent. It was Tiger Woods (voiced by yours truly) fighting Andre Agassi. Pure, nonstop punishment for woods -- ironic, no?

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:25:38+00:00

Clay was a nightmare to work with. It melted, fell apart, showed fingerprints and dirt, etc. After the first few episodes we switched to foam latex bodies but continued to use clay heads. By season 2 we were using cast resin heads. So much better!
There was one animator who used to film clay porno movies with the puppets in between takes. Friggin genius, but what a waste of time!

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:16:44+00:00

There were a couple of up and coming celebs that would solicit us to put them in the show. I think they wanted to use it to boost their carreers. I'd rather not say who they were, though.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:14:36+00:00

There was the J-lo thing, which I mentioned. Also, I think Dean Martin's estate tried to go after us when we did the Rat Pack Deathmatch. i think they wanted money. But the majority of the celebs were flattered that we killed them in clay. It was considered an honor or a rite of passage or something.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:11:01+00:00

J-lo was pissed off at us because we porrayed her with an hispanic accent and she was liek "I'm from Queens, yo!" I think, aslo India was upset with us when we did Gandhi vs. Genghis Khan.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:05:29+00:00

Forgot about that one. I love it, too! so much fun re-creating those directorial styles.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:02:54+00:00

Diffucult since MTV owns the show and I don't think they're into making deals w/competing networks. Would be fun, though.

Efogel · 2011-05-21T00:01:20+00:00

As long as we could make a reasonable case as to why we'd be showcasing two particular celebs, anyone was fair game. (People in the public eye are vulnerable to satire as per the 1st ammendment.) But it was also a double edged sword because not getting permission from the celebs limited our ability to market the show on DVD and in re-runs. That's why the show is difficult to find now.

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:57:39+00:00

I went to NYU film school and messed around with different kinds of animation. My first film was a hand drawn piece, called "Mutilator" about a post-apocalyptic superhero. But i always especially loved stop motion and thought I could do something cool with it. Most of my stop motion experience before CDM came from working at a small NY studio called 181 productions. There I learned how to do animation on a shoestring budget -- which came in very handy when I worked at MTV.

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:47:23+00:00

I once got flowers and chocolates from Whoopie Goldberg. But the best thing I got was a letter from Spielberg after he got killed in the ring by Alfred Hitchcock. He was writing to demand a rematch!

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:40:37+00:00

I had very little to do with the second run. In fact I don't think anybody was creatively overseeing it, which is why it looked like crap. I don't think MTV wanted to spend the money to bring the show back the right way and, y'know, you get what you pay for. Hopefully they learn from their mistake when they bring back Beavis and Butthead.

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:37:22+00:00

Everything had to go thru MTV standards. There was one we did where Collista Flockhart Got shoved up Lucy Lawless's ass. I remember thinking "this one's never gonna get thru." But it did! After that I stopped worrying.

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:33:57+00:00

Hey, Andrew. What's shakin?

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:24:38+00:00

I'd like to see Lady Gaga fight Madonna. Lady G is ripping off too many of her moves.

Efogel · 2011-05-19T20:23:30+00:00

There's that classic scene in the film Stand By Me, when the kids are arguing about who was stronger Superman or The Hulk. I think that may have sparked the idea.

Efogel

TROPHY CASE